Ready or Knot

Knotted Paths #1

by Susi Hawke, Crista Crown

The Haven Center was supposed to be my new beginning. It was supposed to be where I figured out who Wyatt Stanislav is after kidnapping and abuse had torn apart who I was.

I wasn't supposed to meet him.

Jordan Peterson. The tall, buff bear of a man who saves me from my nightmares and calls me his own. His true mate.

Jordan wants nothing more than to protect me. It would be all too easy to disappear into his embrace, but his presence makes it imperative that I discover who I am, if only to become the mate he deserves.

A Team A.L.P.H.A. and Alphabits spin-off series

Ready or Knot is the first book in a brand new series by Crista Crown and Susi Hawke. We've loved our soldiers and our mafiosos and all the good they've done in the world, but what happens after the saving is over and the healing begins? As always, you can expect to find naughty, knotty scenes of steamy passion, and all the fluffy mpreg feels and crazy antics you’d look for from Susi Hawke and Crista Crown.

Genres: M M Romance, Omegaverse, Paranormal, Romance, Shapeshifters, M M Shapeshifters, LGBT

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2020

About the author

I'm a total fan of M/PREG Paranormal Romances, first and foremost as a reader. I'm excited to share my own omegaverse(s) with you. What's not to love about adorable Omegas and the Alpha men who love them? If I'm not writing about men sporting baby bumps, I'm definitely reading about them!

I'm a native of Las Vegas, NV, so I'm pre-wired to love everything weird ~ although I don't find any kind of love to be weird. I'm a cis woman who's been happily married to the same lovable lug for 18 years. We have a 16yr old son, well, at least I think we do? Either that, or we have a ghost that eats all our food and uses up all wifi playing xbox while screaming into a headset.

As a new author, it's been amazing to find the amount of support that I've been given from readers and my fellow authors. Feel free to message me, I love to chat with fellow readers. Am I a reader? Heck yeah! In fact, I'm never certain that I can completely trust an author who isn't a fellow bibliophile.

I will try to update here when I'm doing promotional parties & chats. I usually do those on Facebook. If you haven't already signed up for my newsletter, you should totally do it! I only send out NL's to announce new releases or important announcements. I also like to note in my NL what I'm currently reading along with a cover shot and the link for anyone who is interested.

I look forward to interacting with everyone here!

Reviews

[Len Evans Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome start to a new series!

Really enjoyed this story... Two great MCs... One who has survived great trauma and the other his perfect matched to make him feel safe and help heal that trauma. Throw in a darling baby and you've got perfection!

[Carolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 70% more or less

I didn't like it. Everything goes too fast.

The main character has a sex trauma and he has sex hours later with a man he didn't know? Despite the heat situation I don't buy that. The sex was mediocre.

I can't believe this relationship and in general I get boring reading this.

[Kim Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mpreg story. First in the series from these two authors. Wyatt is a omega with a tragic background and finds his way to The Haven Centre. The centre is ther to help traumatised omegas start life again. Wyatt has a panic attack his first day and meets his true mate Jordan. A beautiful story with babies as well. Lots of secondary characters which should have books of their own in the rest of the series.

[Kashonna Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super sweet

I'm so glad to see sweet Wyatt get his happily ever after. He had such a tragic past and I'm glad He was able to overcome it.

[Badh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fluffy lovely

This is a lovely little fluff of a story. It's A spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff, I think, but it's A lovely bit of sweet fluff.

[Celine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

I really enjoyed Wyatt and Jordan's story. It was sweet. There circumstances were difficult to start with, but they wade through them and end up with everything they never knew they could have, especially Wyatt.

I loved how Jordan was with Wyatt and how slowly it helped Wyatt overcome things. Their relationship is sweet and adorable and hot.

I can't wait for the next book

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (6/29/2022)! 🎁

[Brandielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those ‘first book in a series’ that’s actually a continuation of other series and makes you feel lost about all the extra characters.

[78sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das war wirklich richtig schön zu lesen. Es war sowas entspanntes und so ein Buch wo man nur seufzen will, weil es so schön ist. Es ist vom Schreibstil her kein Wunderwerk, es erinnert mich eher an ein gut geschriebenes Fanfiction. Die Handlung war aber voll und ganz mein Fall.
Das ganze ist wohl ein Spin-Off zu anderen Reihen der Autorin. Eine davon habe ich gerade ebenfalls angefangen. Auf jeden Fall spielen diese Reihen alle in der selben 'Welt' und es werden misshandelte, versklavte Omegas befreit. Hier in diesem Buch lernt man Wyatt kennen. Er ist einer dieser Omegas und wurde wohl in einer der anderen Serien aus der Sex-Skalverei/Omega-Prostitution befreit. Die Novaks, eine Mafia Gruppe (um die sich ebenfalls eine Buchreihe der Autorin dreht) haben ihn befreit und erst einmal bei sich aufgenommen. Damit er aber wirklich heilen kann, kommt er nun in eine Art Therapie-Klinik oder Reha-Klinik für Omegas. Dort spielt sich die meiste Handlung des Buches ab. Ich mag solche Heilungsgeschichten und das wird hier auch richtig gut geschrieben. Die Therapeuten sind sowohl Alphas als auch Omegas und das ganze Shifter-Thema wird da ganz großartig mit eingebaut. Das ist ein sehr großer Pluspunkt des Buches.
Die Charaktere sind alles sehr interessant, auch die Nebencharakter und ich freue mich schon sehr darauf weitere Bücher aus der Reihe zu lesen.
Wyatt trifft relativ schnell auf seinen Seelengefährten und das spielt neben der psychischen Heilung die größte Rolle im Buch. Auch das war wirklich sehr süß beschrieben. Sex steht hier absolut nicht im Vordergrund. Daher finde ich den Titel eher schlecht gewählt, aber naja. Die Sexszenen werden meist sogar nur angedeutet. Viel mehr geht es um die Beziehung und auch um die Familie. Aber es geht hier auch um männliche Omegas, die Kinder kriegen. Was in keinster Weise logisch erklärt wird. Wer sich an sowas stört, der sollte lieber einen Bogen um das Buch machen.
Für mich war es auf jeden Fall sehr schön zu lesen, wenn ich mir auch einen etwas ausgefeilteren Schreibstil und keine ausgelassenen erotischen Szenen gewünscht hätte.

Story/Idee 4,4/5
Erotik 3,4/5
Charaktere 4,6/5
Schreibstil 3,0/5
Gesamt 4,0/5

[Deb Swietek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alphas spell danger. What do you do when you sense your True Mate? Run!

The Team A.L.P.H.A, Alpha- bits, Family Novak world is expanding with this wonderful new spin- off series. There are caring alphas, broken omegas, sexy times, loyal friends, and family. Closely tied to the Novak family, this book features Wyatt. Rescued by the Novak's from a brothel after seven years of sexual slavery, 18 year old Wyatt needs to heal. The Haven Center offers him a chance to do just that. Enter Jordan, security guard and compassionate alpha. Neither expects to scent their true mate. A first heat & a rut seal their bond. Come. Join a frightened wolf and a gentle bear as they find their way to HEA. Their relationship may progress alternately fast & slow, but it moves steadily forward. Meet the other omegas at the Center. Watch as the Novak's descend on Wyatt & Jordan, filling a small house so thick with testosterone you could cut it with a knife. Feel Wyatt's joy at being accepted into Jordan's family. There is also mpreg, darling babies, and a surprise at the end you won't see coming. You will love this book!
Triggers: past abuse & sexual slavery of a minor. Not explicit. Also, Jordan's sister has cerebral palsy. The topic is dealt with respectfully. Despite her handicap, she is a strong, sassy, talented woman.
I can't wait for book two! I do recommend reading the other 3 series. You will fall in love with this world and the men who stand up for what's right.
This book contains adult themes and language, mm sex and is intended for mature readers only.

[Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as steamy as I expected, but it was as fast as I'd predicted. I was always a fan of Omegaverse, and on some days, fast worked for me, but not these days. I guess I wasn't in the mood for something like this yet. It was the wrong timing for me to read this. I have been in a reading slump for a week now. I know it wasn't a big deal; a week wasn't that long, but I've been feeling lost lately. I didn't know what to do. I felt like I should be reading, but I couldn't.

Anyway, I took a risk with this one. I was hesitant to start a new book because I didn't want to "dnf" it. Though I was distracted, I was able to finish it. It wasn't the greatest Omegaverse story I have read. Just as I said, it was a bit fast. I was hoping for Wyatt to heal first and to have a moment to find himself, but I felt like he didn't have any of those at all. He met his mate, Jordan, on his second day in the center and then mated with him the next day. For someone who's been kidnapped and put in a traumatic situation for seven years, he got attached and trusted quite too fast.

But it was an easy story to read, and it was short too. I was just hoping to at least have a little spice between our main characters. Put some tension in there as well. Then throw in some courtship. Mix it with a bowl of self-healing. Anything to put some taste in them. With the right temperature and timing, this would've been nice.

[Claudia Lezár · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good and rare (it would be a Blow-
Away-book like
‘Jesse's Smile' or ‚Joey’ from Angelique Jurd,
‘Save the kids' series from EM Leya,
‘Love’s Tethered Heart’ from C.L. Etta or
'Liberty' from Seth King),
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often reread and is a
WOW-book with interesting plot and surprises
(like most of Andrew Grey books and
Davidson Kings 'Haven Hart'-series)
it's like an A

3,5* - a really good book, which will be reread a few
times a year (most romances where you can
enjoy for relaxing and during waiting times in
hospitals). I can recommend them definitively!
It's like an B+

3* - it could be more then a one-time-reader,
maybe 2-3 times a year. It’s like a B

2* - it was ok to read, but it's more a one-time-
reader (i wouldn't recommend it heartily, but
it was ok). It's like a C-, D

1* - sorry, but that isn't really a book for me (too
many mistakes, not nice plot, illogical, so an
absolut NO-GO). It's like failure in the whole
line, dismissed, repeat the class

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dirty, Broken Damaged Goods
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2021
I had to contact the authors to learn the best order in which to read the remaining four books of the Spin-offs of Team A.L.P.H.A., The Alphabits, and The Family Novak. One of the most disreputable mob families had even victimized their own family members especially the Omegas despite their young ages.

Some new characters are introduced into this ever expanding universe, that work and reside at the Haven Center for abused and traumatized Omegas. But we met Wyatt Stanislav during the Family Novak series and it's so good to see him going for counseling and learning self-defense. It's heartbreaking to see why the Haven Center is necessary.

If anyone was deserving of a HEA it is Wyatt. His life was a horror show. He deserved an Alpha who is decent, kind, caring, and who puts his Omega's needs above his own. Jordan is just that kind of guy. Jordan is just that kind of guy. Wyatt feels he is dirty broken damage goods Jordan knows that is not true. He wants to help Wyatt to see just how wonderful, amazing, and beautiful he actually is. This is a tender story with poignant and sometimes violent moments.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to a new series

Ready or Knot is the first book in a brand new series by Crista Crown and Susi Hawke.
A Team A.L.P.H.A. and Alphabits spin-off series
Where do all the Omegas go when they have been saved. The Haven Centre, and this is where Wyatt Stanislav goes to after the Novak's saved him from his family prostitution ring.

The Haven is a safe place for all Omegas with a few Alphas who are staff who have been vetted.
Jordan, one of the security guards and a bear shifter, smells Wyatt as his true mate, however Wyatt is spooked and runs away, with everything Wyatt has been through can he cope with his true love.

A beautiful story of hardship, friendship and love. A must read if you've read the other series.

Ready or Knot
(Knotted Paths #1)
by 
Susi Hawke &  Crista Crown

❤❤❤❤❤ Overall

[Morgane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the beginning of the story, but would have loved to see more of Wyatt's struggles and recovery.

It did slowly start to drag on a little once Jordan and Wyatt got together, and when I thought it would end it just kept going. I didn't hate it but I probably would have enjoyed this book better as an audiobook that I could listen to while doing something else.

I did note a couple of inconsistencies, where something would be stated and then a few pages later some dialogue would completely contradict that. Nothing that actually affects the main plot - but something I picked up on fairly easily and semi frequently. There was also a point where Justin & Jordans names were mixed up in a scene.

So besides needing a little more editing for consistency, I did enjoy the fluffy (lol) nature of the story and I did find the characters quite lovable.

[Dawn Siemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet little love story

Jordan is your stereotypical white knight, so nice he'd give me cavities. His fated mate has had such a rough life, he needs that. Wyatt is a character from the family Novak series, and maybe I'd like this story more if I'd read that series.

I liked the Team ALPHA and Alphabits series, but I'm not interested in reading about cannibalistic vigilantes or organized crime families meeting their fated mates, even if they have their good points or whatever.

So, Wyatt's been through a lot and does some healing in this book. It's really low angst and low conflict. Fine for quarantine reading. I just didn't like Wyatt enough and there wasn't enough of a climax to really satisfy me.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic beginning to this series!

This was a heartbreaking, emotional roller-coaster of a story, but also humorous, sweet, as well as loving. I can't wait to read more from this series! The next story seems like it's going to be a wild ride for the couple.
If you haven't already read the TEAM A.L.P.H.A., Alphabits, The Family Novak, and STAHP series', I would highly recommend that you do! It's not necessary to read them prior to this series, but you'll have a better understanding of the characters, their backgrounds, the different groups, connections/relations, and the dynamics between all of them. They're all absolutely fantastic stories, and you certainly won't be disappointed!
I would definitely recommend this book, series, and exceptional authors.

[Lisa Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to a Team Alpha spin off

This is the 3rd spin off from the Team Alpha series and so you really do need to read the Team Alpha, Alphabits and Family Novak series to understand who is who. This start of the series is about Wyatt who has been in a brothel run by his evil uncle since he was a teenager and his true mate Jordon who works at
The omega rescue centre Wyatt finds himself at after being rescued from the brothel. Wyatt has to work through not being afraid for every Alpha and Jordon has to learn how to comfort and yet back off when necessary. They get their HEA in the end. Looking forward to the next book.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting to know Wyatt and Jordan was a nice little journey. I'm curious about the the trauma that Wyatt endured as a sex slave and I'm thinking that having that knowledge might have answered some of the unanswered questions about who, what, when, where, why, etc. I forego the need for the information and went with the discovery of one's true mate which washed away all the presupposed trauma. Not sure where I am going with this...it was a sweet story, with not a whole lot of depth to the creation of the characters...Jordan sniffed his mate and Wyatt yearned for what his mate had to offer and then they had a baby...a sweet, enjoyable story...but it could have been so much more.

[Mamasgurl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!!

I am so happy Wyatt got his happy beginning. He is so deserving of it. Jordan was the sweetest teddy bear alpha ever, and he was very open and understanding of Wyatt's needs and his past.

I found it immensely important that he was so understanding and so open with Wyatt. This book to me was an amazing start to a series I feel will be epic.

The wait was well worth it and I am excited for the next book already.

It's no surprise that Susi and Crista have done something amazing again :)

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Darkness to Light

After his family was murdered in Ukraine, Wyatt was brought to America by his uncle and forced to work in his uncle's omega brothel at the age of twelve. After being rescued, he ends up at an omega center, where he can try to put his life back together. While there, he meets his fated mate, Jordan. Wyatt is still broken and isn't sure he deserves happiness, but Jordan teaches him otherwise. Their journey has pitfalls, but they struggle through. Hard to stop reading.

[Andrea]

Not too bad for the genre it is...which is fine, I know what I'm getting when I pick up a m/m Mpeg shifter book! It delivered. I would have liked to hear more about Wyatt's background. It must have been awful. We get a glimpse and it was bad, but I would have liked to see how he maintained his inner strength during all that. I know we see him scared of ...basically his shadow...and I know the true mate drive heals a great many ills, but he is pretty damn resilient anyway. Still, nice relaxing way to start the year.

[MG Lahey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect match

Sweet, timid Wyatt, used and abused by his birth family, had come a long way. Running into his fated mate on a dark and stormy night wasn't planned. Jordan's big protective bear recognized Wyatt right away. He knew not to push, but Fate had others plans.
I'm happy Wyatt was ok with the suddenness but it made me feel for him. Even though Jordan was a good guy, things could've gone wrong. Luckily it was a HEA.

[Leslie Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start to new series

This book is a spin off from the Family Novak and I couldn't be happier. Wyatt was rescued by the Novak family from an illegal brothel imprisoned by his own cousin. Wyatt was taken into their home and treated well but Wyatt was scared of all alphas. He asks to go to the omega rescue sanctuary for therapy and while there meets his fated mate. What an incredible story of love and family.

[Temberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love concurs all

Wyatt was kidnapped at a young age and thrown into the family's brothel business.  He was rescued by the Novak family.  He then goes to the Haven Center to help  himself overcome the hell he has been through.
Jordan works nights at the Haven Center. When they finally meet they realize they are fated mates. 
Taking things slowly is good for them both and Jordan has a delightful family you will fall in love with. 

[Xiomara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just need to know

It was a decent story, but I feel that there is a lot of unanswered questions. I don’t know about you, but I feel like his trauma was not talked about enough, and he overcame that trauma that was talked about a little too fast in my opinion. Also would like to know that he pay his families debt. Someone else pay for it just questions I have questions. But other than that it was a good story. I enjoyed reading it I might read the second book.

[Flavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

É ok, no início achei que a autora pecou de novo em colocar perguntas, esquecer que o personagem tinha que responder e o outro personagem agir como se tivesse tido resposta, mas depois melhorou muito provavelmente pelo fato de ter outra autora junto com ela ajudou bastante. Eu gosto do Jordan, mas acho que o passado do Wyatt é pesado demais para ele inteferir de menos na história, mas entendo que elas tentaram fazer algo mais leve.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved that Wyatt got his perfect HEA! It was sweet and Jordan was wonderful. The Novak family appearances were great and the love they have for Wyatt is precious. I loved seeing some of Papa P's world at the Omega center and his sweet self! I loved it! I really hope Craig gets a story from this...my heart went out to him.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susi and Crista do it again

This is yet another great book form Susi and Crista although great doesn’t even come close to describing it. Love how it has all the feels and very happy with the appearance of Justin ❤️
I don’t want to add any spoilers so just do yourself a favour and jump right into reading

[Anera Shell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and low angst

All the feels. Wyatt from the last Novak book is trying to get over his past and become a "real boy". A quick finding of his true mate helps him working in achieving that. Papa P makes an appearance. Second book is already up for preorder and it's obvious it's just the beginning of a new series.